Politics – Historic Ipswich

“At Long last, Sir, Have You Left No Sense of Decency?”

November 20, 2025December 8, 2025 Gordon Harris3 Comments

Joseph Mccarthy: "I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party."

On June 9, 1954, before a nationwide television audience, Joseph Welch of Waltham replied to Joseph McCarthy, "Until this moment, Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness."

1854: Anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party Sweeps Massachusetts Elections

November 2, 2024November 15, 2025 Gordon Harris1 Comment

Anti-Immigrant Know Nothing Party "American Patriot"

Prejudice disguised as patriotism repeats itself in American politics. In 1854, the "Know Nothing" American Party formed in opposition to Irish immigration and carried local elections in New England communities. They swept the state of Massachusetts in the fall 1854 elections but were defeated two years later.